Brick-press.



No. 66mm. Patented Oct. 23, I900. C. H. HORTON.

BRICK PRESS.

(Application filed Dec. 28, 1898.) (No Model.) 3 sheets-sheet l lll l WITNESSES /N VENTOH A TTOHNE 715.

TNE NORRIS PETERS co. PNOYO-LIYHO, WASNVNGTON a. c.

PMBMM UM. 23, I900. C. H. HUBTBN.

No. 550m.

B R [G K P R E S S. (Application filed Dec. 28, 1898.)

a Sheata-$haol a.

(No Model.)

D E DE 5 BE E H EU UHEDEU BEE WITNESSES. LOW/L la.

FITICEQ CHARLES H. HORTON, OF PAINESVILLE, OIIIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE HORTON MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

BRICK-PRESS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 660,1 10, dated October 23, 1900; Application filed Deen1her28, 1898; eel-1a No. 700,504.. ens model-J To all 7117007171 it m/t concur/t line IV IV, Fig. I. Fig. V is a perspective Be it known that I, CHARLES H. HORTON, a view of the die and mold used in connection resident of Painesville, Lake county, and with my machine. State of Ohio, have invented certain new and A represents the pugging-chamber. The 55 5 useful Improvements in Brick-Presses; and pugging-chamber A is cylindrical except at I do hereby declare the following to be a full, its front end, which is rectangular in crossclear, and exact description of the invention, section. A mold-filling plunger M is operasuch as will enable others skilled in the art to tivelysupported in the front end of the pugwhich it pertains to make and use the same. gingchamber, and under the moldfilling 60 {0 My invention relates to brick machines, plunger is located a die, as hereinafter more and more especiallyto such machines as form fully described. A portion of the bottom of bricks, slabs, or the like by compressing the the pugging-chamber at its front end is desame into a mold or series of molds of suitpressed below the level of the rest of the botable or predetermined configuration. tom, forming a pocket (1 for receiving depos 65 My invention consists in certain features its of stones or other heavy substances conof construction whereby the pressing-pluntained in the mud and preventing the same gcr is contained and operated within the from being carried onto the face of the die. mud or clay chamber. In the drawings I have shown this pocket a My invention also consists in the peculiar formed by inclining the bottom of the pug- 70 construction of the mold feeding device, ging chamber toward the front end and whereby the molds are fed in rotation at extending a gate S transversely of the pugproper intervals under the plunger or comging-chamber immediately behind the die. pressor and whereby the mold-feeding device I prefer this construction, as the gate S thus is so constructed that any overstrain brought forms one side of the press-box (7. surround- 75 to bear upon the feeder-head in feeding the ing the die, the other sides of the press-box a molds is compensated for or taken up by a being respectively the lower portion of the union or joint between the driving mechanfront wall of the pugging-chamber and the ism which operates the feeder-head and the portions of the two sides of the puggingsaid head. chamber between the said front wall and the 80 My invent-ion also consists in the peculiar gate S.

construction of the mold-feeding apparatus In order that the mold may be well packed, as a whole and in the movement-conveying the press-box a is designed to hold more mud gearing for said mold-feeding device. vunder the plunger than is necessary to fill a Myinveniion further consists in an adjustmold, and in order to allow the escape of the 85 able driving mechanism connected with the excess of mud from under the plunger the plunger of the press, whereby the amount of gate S, which forms the rearend of the pressmud or clay fed to the die and mold is prebox, is hinged and held in position by means determined according to the desired density of a spring, which allows the gate to yield of the brick or slab or according to the qualand permits the surplus mud to escape back 0 4.0 ity of the mud or clay employed. into the pugging-chamber when the mold has My invention also embodies other details been filled. The construction of this gateis of construction, which will be hereinafter more fully described hereinafter; fully set forth and claimed. The receptacle A is provided at its ends A In the drawings, Figure I is a view in lon- A with journals, which act as bearings for 5 gitudinal vertical section of a brick-machine a shaft B. The shaft B is provided with suitof the class above set forth which embodies able temperingblades or knives C,properlysemy invention. Fig. II is a View in front elecured thereto and revolving therewith. These vation of my machine. Fig. III is a sectional tempering-blades C may be of any suitable view illustrating the attachment of the plunconstruction and are secured to a shaft I3, 1:00 ger-rods to the press-plunger. Fig. IV is a either, as illustrated in the drawings, by sectional plan view of my machine, taken on means of divided couplings c or in any other I constructing the die E isto properly divide.

of proper width and angle to advance theclay to the press when the plunger of the same is elevated.

E represents the die, which is shown more clearly in Fig. V of the drawings. The die E, I prefer toformwith one of its sides (the front side) open and with suitably-spaced inverted-V-shaped bars 6. The spacing of the bars a is predetermined by the width of the brick or slab to be pressed, and'hence is predetermined by the divisions in the mold to be.

used. It will be noticed that thebases of the or thickness of the'divisions of. the mold, as illustrated in Fig. V. The object in thus the mud or clay and direct the same into the several chambers or compartments of themold. The object in overlapping the partitions of the molds by means of the bases of the bars 6 is to prevent themud or clay as it is being pressed into themolds from stripping the sand or lubricant fromthesides of the molds. By forming thedie with an open side, as illustrated in Fig. V, stones or foreign substances are more readily pushed or forced out from said die.

F represents a mold, whichmaybe of any suitable construction, materiahor contour, adapted to properly receive and give configuration to the material received and compressed therein. The molds F are preterably subdivided by means of. partitionsf; but this. is not essential, inasmuch as slabs may be. formed by my machinewhichwill require the.

full mold to receive and shape them. In re.- gard to the depth of the mold this is. predetermined according; to the thickness of the bricks or slabs to be formed.

G represents the mold-feeder head, which I prefer to construct as illustrated in the drawings (see Fig. I) and provide it with wheels or rollers g, whichhave traction upon or are guided by suitable tracks or'grooves,

which may be formed either integral with or be connected to a vertically-adjustable bed H. The mold-feeder head G is reciprocated back and forth a suitable distance along the bed H, so as to allow of sufficient space for receiving and advancingthe molds F, which are fed at the side of themachineinadvance ofthe mold-feeder head.

In order to properly operate or reciprocate the head G at proper intervals and give the same theproper throw according to the width of the mold, I have provided a construction which is as follows:

G represents a two-part pitman jointed at The longer arm G of the pitman G is pivotally connected, as at 9 with the head sumes when under undue strain. trated in Figs. I and IV, the parts of the pitman G2 and G8 are. pivotally connected by a lpintle g and arev so connected that when the G, and the shorter arm G? of said pitman G issuitablyconnected-to an adjustable wristpin i. The adjustable wrist-pin i is secured to a beveled pinion I, which is properly journaled to the casing A and rotates horizontally. The beveled pinion I is so constructed and mounted as to mesh with a segmental beveled gear. K, which is secured to and revolves with the driving-gearingK,attached to thepuggingshaft 13. The segmental bevel-gearing K is provided with a sufficient number of teeth to give to the bevel-pinion I one revolution, thus transmitting to the pitman G a single throw in both directions. During a portion of the revolution of the gearK the bevel-pinion I is at rest, which stops the movement of the pitman G and its feeder-head Gand allows time for the. introduction or feeding of the molds ;to the machine.

bars e are somewhat greater than the width Inasmuch as it is essential that the teeth .ofthe pinion I and the segmentalbevel-gear ;K- properly mesh or engage as the said segj mental gear returns to position, so as to engage the-teeth of said pinion, I provide the .pinion I with an. open space 22, (see Fig.

IV,) andl provide the said beveled pinion with a lugor. projection i located so as to Ibein.positiontobeengaged by a cooperating vluglt, located at thestarting end of the said "segmental bevel-gearing K. gTheobject in providing the lugs d and k is "to obtain anabsolute and positive start and mesh between the segmental gearingK and fthe bevel-pinion I.

(See Fig. I.)

The object in forming the pitman 'G in two parts, asG G and pivoting those parts to- Igether, as at g, is to allow the said pitman to :bucklewhenunder undue strain, and my preferred construction'foraccomplishing this ob- .ject-is illustrated in Fig. IV in solid and dotted lines.. The solid lines illustratethe normal jpositionof thepitman, and the dotted lines illustrate thepitman in position which it as- As illuspitman is inits normal position the axial lines vof the parts G? and G are at a slightangle to each other, or, in other words, the direct thrust is brought to bear toa certain extent beyond theaxial line of the pitman. In order to keep the pitman in its normal position,

it is essential that some power or force be applied in order to retain the parts G and G3 from buckling under normal strain, and for this purpose I prefer to employ a spring L, such as is illustrated in Fig. I. Spring L surrounds the pintle g and has its two armsl and Z respectively engaging lugs g g near the pivotal portions of the parts G and G of the pitman. The tension of the spring L is such as to sustain the pressure along the pitmanunder normal condition and to allow the said pitman to buckle under undue strain. While I have in this connection shown and described aspring for accomplishing this purpose and have also set forth and illustrated my preferred construction of spring and method of connecting the same, it is apparent to those skilled in this art that other constructions of springs and other methods of connecting the same may be employed.

The platen or table II is mounted in the machine beneath the plunger of the press and is provided with gratings 7t and rollers h, as usual, and is adjusted in a vertical direction by means of j ack-screws H, properly mounted in the framework of the machine and adapted at their upper end to support the platen H. Inasmuch as the wear on the platen at the part H where the molds are projected after being charged, is great and inasmuch as this wear if allowed to progress to any great extent would be detrimental to the proper working of the machine, I have provided a removable plate H which is preferably constructed of gridiron form or open-work of bars and cross-bars. Plate H is detachably secured in position on the table or platen H in any suitable mannersuch, for instance, as shown in sectional View, Fig. I, by means of a bolt and nut 7L2, which engages the clamping-loar 71 which in turn engages a cross-bar h and holds the detachable portion or plate II in posit-ion. The plate H maybe made in one or more parts, and, as I have illustrated in Fig. IV of the drawings, I prefer to con struct it of two parts, and in this case two fastening devices, such as 71 h would have to be employed. By making the plate H separate from or detachable from the platen or table H, I am enabled to remove or replace it without the necessity of reconstructing, refinishing, or replacing the platen as a whole, and this is a material feature of my machine.

The method of operating the press-plunger M of my machine is as follows: The plunger M is located so as to operate in the forward end of the casing A. A walking-beam N is pivoted at one end, as at n, to a standard N, which in turn is secured to the pugging-case A in any suitable manner. The walkingbeam N at its outer end is connected to the upper end of a pitman O by means of a balland-socket joint N which allows of a universal movement between the said pitman O and walking-beam N at this connection, which is essential on account of the varied movements of the same during the operation of the machine. At the lower end of the pitman 0 an opening 0 is provided, or, more truly speaking, the said pitman may be made in two parts, as illustrated in front elevation, Fig. II. At both sides of the opening 0, I provide recesses 0, registering with each other and adapted to receive and retain a lifting-plate P, which is received and retained in one of the series of recesses o. The object in providing the recesses 0 and in adjusting the plate P by means of the same is to vary the throw of the plunger M in its upward or backward movement, and thus graduate the amount of clay to be fed or compressed by said plunger. It will be understood that this is essential according to the quality or quantity of mud or clay used and according to the required density of the brick, slab, or other product of the machine.

M M represent plunger-stems which are connected to the plunger M in any suitable manner, so as to raise and lower the same the predetermined distance. The stems M M receive their motion through the walkingbeam N and are connected thereto by a block M preferably adjustably secured to said walking-beam. Said block in turn is pivotally connected, as at m, to said ste ms M. The extent of the motion of the stems M M and connected plunger M is determined positively in its downward direction by the down ward throw of crank R, with its attached wrist-pin R, and upwardly by the throw of the wrist-pin R, in connection with the adjustable plate P and its receiving-slots 0.

It will be noticed that the plunger M is contained and operates within the mud or clay chamber A which contains the mud or clay at proper consistency to form the prod not, and, as it were, the plunger M in its downward movement slices off from the mass contained within said chamber and feeds through the die E and properly compresses into the mold the predetermined amount of material to form the product. The advantage of this construction or location of the plunger M is that clayof a proper consistency is always at hand to be compressed through the dies and into the mold and that a constant supply of the mud or clay is always at hand for this purpose.

The gate or safety-valve S is mounted upon suitable bearings at its ends, and, as illustrated in Fig. II of the drawings, one of the bearings is provided with an arm S, securely attached thereto, and provided at its outer or free end with a spring S or the equivalent of the same, which may be a weight. The spring or weight acts upon the arm S and is adjustable or changeable, so as to permit the proper tension being given to the gate or valve S. Inasmuch as various devices may be employed for regulating the tension of the relief valve or gate S, I have illustrated but one, which will be clearly understood from the drawings.

WVhat I claim is 1. In a brick-machine, the combination with a pug-mill, of a mud-press located wholly inside of the chamber of the pug-mill and adapted to press mud therefrom into a mold.

2. In a brick-m achine, the combination with a horizontal pugging-chamber having an outlet at its bottom at one end, of a plunger lo cated inside of said pugging-chamber, said plunger constructed and arranged to operate in the mud in the pugging-chamber and force it out through said outlet into a mold.

3. In a brick-machine, the combination with the chamber of a pug-mill having an outletopeuing, of a plunger located within the a 66.0,ii6

chamber of the pug-mill and adapted to operate in the mud therein and force it, through said outlet, into a mold, and a yielding device located at the inner edge of said outlet and projecting into said chamber, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. Inabrick-machine, the combination with a pugging-chamber having an outlet in its bottom at its front end, of a plunger located in the pugging-chamber and adapted to operate in the mud therein and force it, through said outlet, into a mold, a part of the front end of the pugging-chamber forming one side of a press-box for said plunger, and a yielding device located at the inner edge of the outlet and projecting up into the said chamber so as to form the opposite side of the press-box.

5. In a brick-machine, the combination of a pugging-chamber having an outlet in its bottom at or near one end, a die in said outlet, a mold-support underthe die, a verticallymovable plunger disposed within the pugging-chamber over said outlet and adapted to operate in the mud in said chamber and means for operating said plunger.

6. In a brick-machine-of the character indicated, a pugging-chamber, a pugging-mill operating in said chamber, a vertical moldfilling plunger operating in the front end of said chamber, a die located beneath said plunger, and a pocket formed in the bottom of the pugging-chamber behind the said die and adapted to receive and retain deposits of heavy substances contained in the mud, preventing the same from beingcarried onto the surface of the die, substantially as described, for the purpose set forth.

7. In a brick-machine of the character indicated, a pugging-chamber having a portion of its bottom, near its front end, inclined to the front and below the general level of the said bottom, a moldsfilling plunger operating in the front end of said chamber, a die 10- catcd in the bottom of said chamber beneath the said mold-filling plunger, a division-gate extending transversely of the said puggingchamber in the interior thereof and immediately behind the said die, and means for holding said gate in a vertical position, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

8. In a brick-machine of the character indicated, a pugging-chamber, a pugging-mill operating in said chamber, a vertical moldfilling plunger operatively supported in the front end of said chamberja die located beneath said plunger, a press-box surrounding said die, the rear end of said press-box being yieldingly supported in its vertical position, and adapted to open toward the interior of the pugging-chamber so as to allow the surplus mud, under the plunger, to escape back into the pugging-chamber, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

9. The combination with a pugging-chamher, a pugging-shaft having hearings in said chamber, and means for operating said pugging shaft, of a mold-filling plunger operating in said pugging-chamber, and means for operating said mold-filling plunger, comprising a crank-arm keyed to the said pugging-shaft, a vertical adjustablepitman having its lower end operatively connected with the said crank-arm and provided, at its other end, with a socket, a lever pivoted at one end to a rigid support and provided with a ball at its other end adapted to fit into the said socket in the end of the said pitman, and pivotal connection between the saidlever and the shaft of the said mold-filling plunger, substantially as described, for the purpose set forth.

10. In a brick-machine of the type set forth, the combination with a pugging-shaft, of a gear-Wheel for operating the said shaft, said gear-wheel being provided, on one of its faces, with a segmental bevel-gear, which inter mittently engages a bevel-pinion, a wrist-pin connected to said bevel-pinion, an adjustable pitman connected to said wrist-pin, and a mold-filling device operated by said pitman, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

ll. In a brick-machine of the type set forth, the combination with a plugging-shaft, of a crank located at its forward end, a pitman connected to said crank, said pitman, in turn, adjusted so as to have a positive predetermined downward throw when operated by said crank, and being provided with means whereby the upward movement of the'pitman may be varied or adjusted, a rocking beam having ball-and-socket connection With said pitman, and a plunger pivotally connected to said rocking beam, substantially as described, for the purpose set forth.

12. A brick-machine of the type set forth, comprising a platen or tablef a mold-feeder head reciprocating thereon so as to feed the molds to proper position; a pitman connected to said mold-feeder head, said pitman being formed in two parts and pivoted together; the pivotal connection between the parts being such as to feed the molds under normal conditions and to buckle or compensate under abnormal strain, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

13. In a brick-machine of the type set forth, a mold-feeding device comprising a feedinghead,.a pitman pivotally attached thereto, said pitman being formed in two parts, said parts being out of alinement and pivotally connected, and means, substantially such as set forth, for retaining said pitman in normal position under normal strain and permitting said pitman to buckle or compensate under abnormal strain, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

14. In a brick-machine of the type set forth, a mold-feeding device comprising a feederhead, a pitman connected to said head, said pitman being operatively connected and adjustably connected with a crank bevel-gear, in combination with a segmental bevel-gear for intermittently operating the mold-feeder through said crank bevel-gear, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

15. In a brick-machine of the type set forth, a plunger-operating device consisting essentially of a rocking beam pivotally connected at one end, and an adjustable pitman connection located at the opposite end, and a crank for operating said pitman and through it the rocking beam, the connection between the pitman and the rocking beam being a ball-and-socket connection, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

16. In a brick-machine of the type set forth, a mold-feeding device comprising a suitable head for contacting with and feeding said molds; a pitinan connection connected to said head, and means or mechanism intermiting a bevel-pinion provided with a Wrist-pin for connecting and operating the pitman, and a driving bevel-gear of segmental form, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

17. In a brick-machine of the type set forth, mechanism for intermittently operating the mold-feeder, said mechanism comprising a segmental driving'gear; a pinion operated thereby; starters for properly meshing the segmental gear and the pinion, and a Wristpin connected to said pinion, in combination with a pitman connected to said wrist-pin, and a suitable feeder-head connected to and operated by said pitman, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

Signed by me at Painesville, Ohio, this 25th day of November, 1898.

CHARLES H. HORTON.

Witnesses:

DANIEL I'I. PROPER, HOMER O. WoonWoRTH. 

